Tackling barriers to entrepreneurship in a deprived urban neighbourhood

What is it about?

Harnessing entrepreneurship in deprived urban neighbourhoods (DUNs) is a key aspect of enterprise development policy. The aim of this article is to explore the barriers to entrepreneurship in DUNs, and how policy can help tackle these barriers.

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Why is it important?

To do this, it reports the results of a face-to-face survey with 459 respondents and a further 18 in-depth follow-up interviews with those identifying themselves as entrepreneurs or potential entrepreneurs in the Leeds Local Enterprise Growth Initiative (LEGI) area. This provides evidence that individuals living in these DUNs face both direct barriers to engaging in entrepreneurial endeavour, such as lack of self-belief and confidence, and lack of affordable workspace, as well as indirect barriers such as perceptions of place, fear of crime and financial lending hurdles. The article concludes by arguing for a holistic policy approach towards harnessing entrepreneurship in DUNs that tackles not only the direct but also the indirect barriers to entrepreneurship.

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